Cray Inc. and MCube Collaboration Develops Unique Capabilities Using Radioss-CFD to Perform Aero-Acoustics Simulations Significantly Faster
SEATTLE & MARSEILLE, France--July 11, 2002--Multi-Processor version of Radioss-CFD implemented on Cray SX-6 and
SV1 Systems for automotive and aerospace industries; Problems that took weeks on RISC Processor Systems now run in days on Cray Systems.
Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. and MCube, a leading provider of simulation software to manufacturers worldwide, announced break-through results from their two-year collaboration to optimize a highly efficient multi-processor version of Radioss-CFD that runs on Cray SV1 and Cray SX-6 systems.
Aero-acoustic simulations that took several weeks to complete on leading RISC machines now can be performed within a few days on Cray systems.
Aero-acoustics is the study of noise generated by a moving fluid, such as air or water, often interacting with structures. Cray and MCube began their joint work in 2000 looking at a key automotive problem -- the noise created by side-view mirrors. Since then they have investigated more complex engineering problems, including exhaust pipes, intakes, HVAC systems and centrifugal and axial fans.
"Computational Aero-acoustics is a new application of increasing importance for the automotive industry," said Dr. Dimitri Nicolopoulos, director of MCube. "From our work with Cray, we now can jointly offer a unique solution that combines the capabilities of Radioss-CFD and the computing power of Cray systems. The performance on the Cray SX-6 system is especially compelling," added Nicolopoulos. "Over the years, Radioss-CFD has proven to be an accurate and reliable tool featuring unique capabilities in the field of coupled fluid-structure and aero-acoustic numerical simulations. Our collaboration with Cray Inc. led to a dramatic decrease of the necessary computer time. Jobs that required several weeks to complete on 16 CPU parallel RISC computer systems can now be completed in just 2 days on an 8 processor SX-6. This allows design engineers to improve vehicle quality, shorten the time-to market for new designs and reduce physical prototyping expense."
"Our joint work with MCube has led to new business opportunities," added Dr. Himanshu Misra, Business Manager, Automotive/Aerospace at Cray Inc. "We have already run Radioss-CFD simulations for DaimlerChrysler, Honda and PSA Peugeot-Citroen on the Cray SX-6, and have been making presentations to other automotive companies in the United States, Japan and Europe."
"In addition to our joint marketing efforts, we are also offering data center capabilities using the Cray SX-6," Misra said. "Now customers can verify the benefits of running Radioss-CFD on CRAY supercomputers using the ASP business model. Customers have seen excellent correlation of simulated results with actual experimentation using Radioss-CFD. Industry experts believe that Computational Aero-acoustics (also referred to as Wind Noise) has the potential to emerge as a primary application area, similar to work done with crash simulations during the last decade. Aero-acoustics has significant strategic implications as automakers improve the quality of their vehicles. We are seeing business opportunities at key industrial sites where Aero-acoustics is already a mature application area. These sites would like to have their own computer systems dedicated to aero-acoustics."
About MCube
Headquartered in Marseille, France, MCube SARL is a member of the RADIOSS group. MCube is dedicated to providing its clients worldwide with integrate software packages to address transient CFD, coupled fluid structure and acoustic problems. Sales offices are in France, UK, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. To learn more about MCube, visit: www.mcube.fr.
About Cray Inc.
Cray is the premier provider of supercomputing solutions for customers' most challenging scientific and engineering problems. Go to www.cray.com for more information about the company.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. There are certain factors that could cause Cray's execution plans to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements above. Among these factors are the technical challenges of porting application systems to high performance computer platforms, the risks in the development of high performance computing systems, the limited market for third party application software and general economic and market risks. For a discussion of these and other risks, see "Factors That Could Affect Future Results" in Cray's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
Cray is a registered trademark, and Cray SV1 and Cray SX-6 are trademarks, of Cray Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.